May at EVFAC

May 2026

May Group Happenings

✨ Sunday May 17th - 12-3pm Rigid Heddle Support Group. All little looms welcome!

✨ Sunday May 24th - 1pm-4pm The Crochet Club! Bring your yarn and hooks!

The bridge will officially re-open Tuesday May 12th with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2PM!

From last month:

FIBER AS RESISTANCE

On April 11th was a truly wonderful evening. We welcomed around 50 guests and raised just over $1,100, which will go directly toward purchasing wool, animal feed, and supporting traditional lifeways on Big Mountain/Black Mesa. All proceeds go directly to Dineh wool producers who are actively resisting relocation. We’ll have more details and photos up on our Events page soon, and you can also visit our instagram or facebook to learn more about the event and the cause.

More fleece will be available in the shop soon too!

EVFAC

Celebraciones de Cultura

Peñasco May 2nd, 2026

Last weekend the Peñasco Valley Historical Preservation Society asked us to set up weaving and macramé demonstrations at the Celebraciones de Cultura in Peñasco.

Michelle represented us with rigid heddles for people to try and her own array of woven pieces she’s made on different small looms.

Julia Topete, our Youth Education Coordinator and macramé artist had these words to share:

The Celebraciones de Cultura in Peñasco was a beautiful mosaic of Northern New Mexican life, where the air was filled with the sounds of local Norteño music and the aroma of fresh horno bread. Beneath the warm May sun, the community gathered to share generational knowledge and traditions, from the intricate floral patterns of colcha embroidery and loom weaving to the earthy textures of Picuris Pueblo pottery.

This is Sharon - one of the adults in our Wednesday afternoon Weaving in Community group. She’s also a colcha artist and teacher and has been weaving sabanilla on our rigid heddle looms as you can see here!

And this is Conny, who started out in our Wednesday weaving group but decided to stick with crochet :). She still comes by and says hi!

Julia Topete setting up her group macramé piece.

It was a space where elders passed down the rhythm of the loom, the craft of macramé, traditional remedios, and woodworking skills, while children sat focused over chess boards and Zentangle designs, ensuring that the thread of tradition remains unbroken. Between rows of handmade jewelry, jars of chokecherry jam, and the rich flavors of food from Picuris Pueblo, the event became a living gallery of local resilience, creativity, and cultural pride.

From the SHOP

Introducing “From the SHOP” — a new monthly newsletter section! Each month we’ll feature a unique donation and/or product found in our shop.

This month’s episode - Pin Looms!

For all of you pin loomers out there- we received a wonderful donation of continuous strand weaving looms- also known as pin looms- and wanted to make sure that you knew they were here in the shop waiting for a new home.

The Pin Looms we have in the shop:

$500-Carl Spriggs 5 ft. square and 7 ft. triangle adjustable looms with stand

$45-Carol Leigh 2 ft. triangle

$50-Carol Leigh 71/2" x 291/2" rectangle

$60-Fred Anderson 33 1/2" triangle

$75-Hideaway 14" x 57" rectangle

$50-Kiss Looms 7 1/2" x 44 3/4" adjustable rectangle

And for counter balance lovers we happen to have three beautiful CB 4-shaft floor looms in the shop with weaving widths of 24", 30" and 36" each.

And P.S. - are there any products that you have to go out of your way to buy, and wish we’d carry? Also any other feedback is welcome too! Fill out our retail feedback form:

Retail Feedback

SUMMER CAMP 2026!!

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN THROUGH MAY 29TH

Registration opened for summer camp in mid-April and we’re already about half full in each of our 4 sessions. Visit our Youth Fiber Studio page for detailed class descriptions, teacher bios and a look at past years.

To help us welcome both new and returning families, we’re currently limiting registration to one session per camper. (If we didn’t do this we’d be full with a waiting list for half of the sessions!)

If you’d like additional weeks, you can indicate your interest on the registration form. We’ll email you between May 21–29 to let you know if space is available and to confirm registration for any additional sessions.

If you’ve been meaning to register and haven’t gotten to it yet, here are quick links to each session:

SESSION 1 - June 15th - 19th. Rigid heddle Weaving, spinning & dyeing
SESSION 2 - June 22nd - 26th. Rigid heddle weaving, sewing & macramé
SESSION 3 - July 20th - 24th. Floor loom weaving, felting & macramé
SESSION 4 - July 27th - 31st. Floor loom weaving, spinning & dyeing, screenprinting
In addition to our programming, we’re excited to collaborate with Math Amigos* for a special camp session June 8th – 12th. Campers will spend their mornings at Northern New Mexico College for the math portion of camp, then walk over to EVFAC in the afternoons for a weaving class.
Then during our Session 1, Math Amigos campers in their second week will join our afternoon programming. During both sessions campers will explore how math concepts like pattern and symmetry show up in local and traditional weaving traditions. Through creating mini Rio Grande–style rugs, all campers will learn and practice these ideas in a hands-on way.
* If you’re interested in signing up for the Math Amigos camp, visit this link for more information and to register.

New Teacher Spotlight! - We’re thrilled to welcome Sabina Lovato! Sabina participated in the 2024 Ariat–Chimayó Apprenticeship and has been a production weaver in Chimayó ever since. Now she’s excited to learn how to teach. This summer, she’ll be teacher training with us as she prepares to join our year-round Youth Fiber Studio programs. Check out our instructors and their classes here.

Not attending camp but still want to support EVFAC’s youth education offerings?

If you’d like to support camp in a simple, direct way, there are two great options: you can sponsor a camper/session to help offset program costs and keep camp accessible for more families. You could also pass the link below along to a local business or friend and help us spread the word we are looking for camp sponsors:

SPONSOR

Another way to support are the studios, by purchasing supplies from our wishlist. Wishlist items are hands-on materials and tools that go straight into our classrooms, helping us stretch our budget further so we can offer more classes and programs throughout the year. Thank you for your contribution!

WISHLIST

Adult Education

Check out the new classes just added to the Calendar! Warping Refresher Class with Dain Daller.

Have you been wanting to weave, but scared of putting the warp on the loom? Fear not! Dain Daller will be teaching his Warping Workshop this July 7th and 8th. You will learn, or re-learn to warp a loom from start to finish. Dain will be teaching the front to back warping method, and the class will include winding the warp, sleying, threading, and tying the warp on! This is not a weaving class, only warping. Students will warp at different paces, and you may finish the class in one session. We Hope to see you there!

By popular demand, a second session of Textural Tapestry Weaving with Leigh Oviatt has been added to the class schedule for August 8th, from 1pm-4pm. Learn the meditative art of weaving! In this workshop you will create a beautiful 5” x 8” textural tapestry with local fiber artist Leigh Oviatt. Explore frame loom weaving techniques while playing with texture, color, and a variety of materials. Leigh will teach you how to set up a loom, how to design a tapestry, blend colors, and more! Join Leigh Oviatt for Textural Tapestry Weaving.

Aaaannndd there’s MORE! - Check out our Classes page for others!

Around Town

VOTING ENDS: Thursday May 14th 8PM MST

VOTE FOR ROY! If you’re reading this newsletter, you probably already know that Roy isn’t just a “master” weaver and one of our board members. He’s also a dedicated mentor who has led an apprenticeship program for over a decade, supporting Diné youth in carrying forward the sheep-to-loom tradition.

Voting closes Thursday, May 14 at 8:00 PM MST. Please cast your vote(s) and help Roy revamp his studio so he can continue this work for generations to come.

Thursday May 21, 5-7PM

MIAC Theater

Note: This event appears in the printed brochure, but it isn’t currently showing on the website calendar.

In 2023, MIAC commissioned a special tapestry from Lynda Teller Pete (Diné), considered to be one of the premier Navajo weavers today. Its creation was documented from the spinning and dyeing of the wool to the actual weaving and finishing. The tapestry will be ready in 2026. Lynda will present the tapestry and describe the thinking and work that went into its creation.

Donate today!

As a 501(c)3 organization, EVFAC strives to balance professional, living-wage compensation for our teaching artists with affordable class prices, scholarships, and free youth programs that serve our local community. Through grants and crucial member-donor support, we maintain this vital balance. Your continued generosity makes our mission possible.

DONATE